The subject disclosure is directed to the near field communications arts, the communications arts, the service providing arts, the radio communications arts, the mobile computing arts, ticketing arts, and the like.
Ticketing is an essential function in public transportation networks. A ticketing function must successfully address several key requirements from both the traveler's and the operator's perspectives. Typical traveler requirements may include ease of use (easy to learn and routine in practice), clear and visible pricing, secure with respect to loss, theft or forgery, e.g., ticket books, passes, etc., and privacy preserving. Typical operator requirements of a ticketing function may include user acceptance (barriers to usage can quickly lead to a rejection of the transportation system by the public), security (confidentiality of the transaction, authentication and non-repudiation, fraud resistance (amateur and organized) and high availability. Additional requirements of the operator to ticketing functions will correspond to deployment costs, both for infrastructure (readers, validation systems, personnel, etc.) and mobility (tickets, cards, etc., in the hands of the traveler).
Near field communications (“NFC”) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar portable user devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, e.g., a few centimeters. The short-range wireless technologies employed in NFC operations typically require a distance of 10 cm or less. NFC requires an initiator and a target, with the initiator capable of actively generating an RF field that can power a passive target or communicate with an active target. This arrangement allows for the use of targets having a very simplistic form, such as tags, key fobs, stickers, cards, etc., which do not require batteries. NFC tags may be read-only or rewriteable, and may be custom encoded. NFC tags may be configured to provide various communication speeds, memory, security, data storage, write endurance, etc. In some instances, the target may include a power source, e.g., NFC peer-to-peer communications.
Current ticketing solutions in transportation networks utilize prepaid tickets that can be paper, magnetic or contactless cards related to a fare product (either prepaid or postpaid). Such solutions require substantial investments in infrastructure, including ticket readers, ticket dispensers, recharging stations, and the like. A transportation network, such as a city mass transit system, may require the deployment of multiple ticketing machines at the same location. These ticketing machines may be subject to vandalism, theft, or malfunction, which will negatively affect traffic throughput at the station.
Additionally, the above-identified ticketing solutions are subject to fraudulent activities involving the counterfeiting and theft of tickets/cards. Furthermore, such implementations represent a significant impact on boarding procedures, as the process for scanning/swiping/inserting the tickets increases the amount of time a traveler must invest to utilize the transportation network. For example, in certain mass transit systems, a traveler must insert a ticket to open a gate and then retrieve the ticket after passing through the gate. The amount of time each traveler must devote to this procedure may increase down the line as one traveler may cause a substantial backup at the entrance, e.g., cannot locate ticket, forgets where to insert, etc. Another example may relate to the boarding of buses at a busy stop, whereby each traveler is forced to provide exact change or a ticket, which must be scanned for validation. If the ticketing validation machine on the vehicle becomes inoperable, the bus is withdrawn from service, which affects not only travelers, but also revenues, by the transit authority.
Thus, it would advantageous to provide a system and method for a wireless ticketing system that uses near field communication in conjunction with a low cost infrastructure, providing ease of use and security for a user and low cost implementation for a transportation system.